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Downloading and installing iNaturalist on your Windows PC

Download iNaturalist for Windows: iNaturalist is an Education App, developed by iNaturalist, LLC. The Education App was officially released 2011-02-25. Today, it has gone through many interations by the developers - iNaturalist, LLC, with the latest current version being 2.7.14 which was officially released on 2018-11-08. As a testament to the app's popularity or lack thereof, it has gathered a total of 864 Reviews on the App Store alone, with an average user rating of 4.5 out of a possible 5.

Using iNaturalist on your Windows computer is actually very easy but if you are new to this process, you will definitely need to pay attention to the steps listed below. This is because you will need to download and install a Desktop App emulator for your computer. We will help you download and install iNaturalist on your computer in 4 simple steps below:

1: Download an Andriod Software emulator for Windows

The importance of the emulator is that it emulates or immitates an android environment on your computer, making it super easy to install and run android apps from the comfort of your PC without buying a phone that runs android. Who says you cannot enjoy both worlds? To begin, you can download such an emulator app made by too top dogs in the space.
A. Nox App . OR
B. Bluestacks App .
Personally, I recommend the "B" option as Bluestacks is very popular so if you run into any trobles using it, you can find good solutions on Google or Bing (lol).

2: Now Install the Software Emulator on your Windows PC

If you successfully downloaded the Bluestacks.exe or Nox.exe, go to your Downloads folder on your computer or anywhere you ususally store downloaded files.
Once you have find it, click it to install the application. It should start the installation process on your PC.
Click Next to accept the EULA License agreement.
Follow the on screen directives in order to install the application.
If you do the above correctly, the Software will be successfully installed.

3: How to Use iNaturalist for Windows PC - Windows 7/8 / 8.1 / 10

Now, open the Emulator application you have installed and locate the search bar. Now type iNaturalist in the search bar and hit Search. You will easily see the app. Click on iNaturalist application icon. A window of iNaturalist will open and it will display the app in your Emulator Software. Hit the Install button and your application will start downloading. Now we are all done.
Next, you will see the "All Apps" icon.
Click on it and it will take you to a page containing all your installed applications.
You should see the iNaturalist icon. Click on it and start using the application.

Hope it was not too difficult? If you have any further inquiries, contact me through the "Contact" link at the bottom of this page so I could help You. Have a nice day!

About iNaturalist

Developer Description

One of the world's most popular nature apps, iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Get connected with a community of over 400,000 scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature! What's more, by recording and sharing your observations, you'll create research quality data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature. iNaturalist is a joint initiative by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society
KEY FEATURES
• Discover species new to you both near and far
• Record your own observations and share them with the community
• Receive suggestions and crowdsourced identifications of what you've seen
• Discuss and help others identify what they've seen
• Follow projects comprised of smaller communities and fellow citizen scientists passionate about a particular place and/or species

App Reviews

iNaturalist

4

By D. Hill

iNaturalist is a great community sourced nature application that allows users to learn about a comprehensive amount of wildlife whether plant of animal and and observe and record their findings. The application makes it easy to learn about wildlife with all the captured data from scientists and other users like yourself including titles, descriptions and photos of subjects. The community can also aid you in your findings with suggestions on wildlife you have observed. Users can look up wildlife captured in their location or easily add it with the camera on the device they are using. The app allows users to create projects you can continually add to as well as follow projects from others you are interested in. iNaturalist also has a news section detailing the latest captures from the community as well as the latest developments concerning the application. For professionals as well as amateurs iNaturalist is a great tool to learn more about our everyday surroundings both near and far.

GPS nags

3

By Benny Badman

Gave it another shot recently. Glad to see login requirements are relaxed. Identification suggestions are surprisingly good at narrowing down possibilities if you’re not sure what you’re looking at, though I’d be hesitant to rely on them as the final word of course.
One thing which would be useful in the Suggestions section is the ability to flip between your photo(s) and those of the suggestions for easier comparison. Access to dichotomous keys would be cool too, or at least inclusion of identifying features which would appear in the keys. It’d also be worth considering inclusion of brief warnings on important aspects such as toxicity. UI could do with streamlining as well, but I’ll hold off on going into that for now.
Original complaint over Location Services still relevant though—it doesn’t seem to have a way to enter your location manually as the dev said would be done in an update. It’s also baffling why the app wants to use LS while using the Suggestions tool when it already has locations set for each photo; there’s no reason to assume a user will be searching for suggestions anywhere near where the data was gathered, so it’s asinine to do this. Or shady.
Original review, April 2017:
As others point out, the app is set up to rely on location services being on. Nope! Not doing it, guys. This also makes it tedious to explore areas you're not currently in. Deleting this nagware.

Sadly it’s way too buggy

1

By N. Braier

I really wanted to like this app. Unfortunately the irritations started the moment I installed it. First, developers should disclose mandatory login requirements. Most app users are like me: I’m not keen on setting myself up for a spam storm until I’ve had a chance to determine if a new app is useful. This app appears to be virtually non-functional if you skip the login step.
Then the error message start. LOTS of them one after another, and they’re the classic head-scratcher sort that make the user feel stupid because you have no idea what they mean or what to do to stop them. Five minutes of this was my limit. This app sounds like a nice idea, and the well-done illustrations featured in the App Store and the splash screens fooled me into thinking the app was designed by an experienced developer. It’s not. The user experience is just no good. Please hire a good UX designer and try again. You’ll likely find that 10x more people who download the app will continue to actually use it if you improve the UX. The concept is good. However as it stands it goes straight to “Delete”.

Amazing, Brilliant, Engaging!

5

By AmrasWolf

An awesome and brilliant way to engage with the natural world around us, iNaturalist is a wonderful application and community for anyone interested in the flora and fauna we share the planet with. Inspiring a budding community of naturalists, with the curiosity of John Muir and David Attenborough, the iNaturalist team has developed a truly amazing product. This app instantly and reliably identifies plants, animals, and insects from just a single photo which contributes to scientific research! Not only are you having fun, inspiring curiosity, and satisfying your own personal discovery, but you’re helping with actual scientific research, too! What more could a user want? I can’t recommend this application and community highly enough, I tell all my friends and colleagues about it and visitors to the wildlife conservation facility I volunteer at, too. It’s truly an amazing tool!

Awesome!

4

By HappyFunLife

I love being able to immediately record and identify anything I find outside! Plants and animals alike are suddenly MUCH easier to ID. No more lugging around half a dozen field guides. Or trying to identify things after I've left the location, only to realize that I didn't observe key characters. I also love that the community can help with identifications. This is like being able to consult a whole crew of experts!
I do wish the app would allow you to follow others and communicate with them the way the web site does. If I could find and follow others, go to other users' observations, and somehow tag others whom I believe could help with identifying my observations then I would be giving 5 stars.

My Dream Come True

5

By Jenjaxmom

This app was introduced to me by an intern who is working at the Deering Estate in Palmetto Bay, Fl. I’m of an age where I kinda hate my phone (ugh, all this technology while looking at nature?) but do love to take photos so I can research the animal/plant when I get home. So this is a game changer. I no longer have to pull up my photos while juggling 3 plant books and make a guess. I don’t have to chase down my kids incredibly patient camp counselors and stick my phone in their face asking “what it is?” How amazing is this? You can see where other people have seen the same thing! And the info is right there! So ok you got me. This rocks.

Great App, Explore Function Lacking

4

By Clemalemma ding dong

I’ve been really enjoying this app over the last month, but the explore function could use better filters. To search observations in a more restricted area, you’re required to zoom in/out on the map. It would be a ton more useful to simply put in a text filter, such as a state or county rather than trying to fine tune a maps view extent.
I really like the ability to upload observance photos directly from your phones image gallery after you’ve left the field. Definitely helps conserve data usage.
Relatively easy to navigate the app, and very fun to see what others around you are observing!

Excellent teaching and research tool

5

By Brassmoose

I use this app every day in the context of both teaching and research. Between this app interface and the even deeper tools of the web interface, there is endless potential to explore the natural world in creative ways. I teach natural history to amateurs and this app opens up new practices and new questions all the time. It’s the ideal marriage of digital technology and traditional nature study. It also turns casual hikes or walks into fun scientific adventures. I esp like that I have had the opportunity to interact with experts who identify my records or offer helpful insights. I would not normally have this kind of opportunity.

iNat is my super power!

5

By Jelly212

My property is on the foothills of a small mountain and my yard is sloped with woodland native and non native species. 2 years ago trees were removed nearby allowing 100% more sun on my hill and much more woodland abundance like I have never seen in 20 years. This spring has been amazing with new growth and thriving patches of flowering weeds and medicinals. iNat lets me keep up with what’s growing or migrating here as I cultivate a natural habitat for birds, plants and woodland wildlife. I can make notes as to growth timelines throughout the growing seasons and have it all handy next spring so I can know what to watch for /keep as my native hill evolves. Thanks iNaturalist!

My favorite app!!!

5

By norcalredwoods

I love iNaturalist!!! It is so cool!!! Much easier than buying, who knows how many books. I’d never have the right identification book or field guide when I needed it. It’s a great way to learn about the nature world where ever I go. This app has motivated me to explore. I was supper excited to find this app, it’s my favorite. I wanted to be a scientist, biologist, or a naturalist, but being dyslexic, spelling is very hard for me and Latin was my worst nightmare. It’s neat that my observations can help others in their scientific research. Ether way this app has been incredible, and has kicked up my favorite hobby to high gear.
Thank you iNaturalist!